


He Deserves to be Happy

by CrimsonFoxx443



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: M/M, Zora Courting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 03:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19881028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonFoxx443/pseuds/CrimsonFoxx443
Summary: Tona is searching for someone to make her brother happy. Lucky for her, she runs I to Hyrule's champion during her search and he may just be the perfect candidate.





	He Deserves to be Happy

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've been replaying BotW and since I am rare pair trash, this is my second fic in like 12 hours. The last one was Harth/Link.

"Hey, Link!" Tona called out when she saw the blonde Hylian approaching Inogo Bridge. "On your way to the Domain?"

Link nodded slowly. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Well, I'm sort of scoping out all the people visiting the domain. Since this bridge leads to the main path, most people come this way." Tona explained what she was doing, but know Link wanted to know why.

He just stared at her until she got that he wanted an explanation.

"You know my brother, Cleff, right? He runs the general store. Well, now that business is better since you defeated the calamity, I think he should start focusing on his self a little more. I've tried setting him up with Zora, but he doesn't seem interested, so I figured maybe he'd like a Hylian!" She finished off her explanation with a big grin full of sharp teeth.

"So you're scoping out Hylians to try and set them up with your brother?" He asked to clarify.

"Well, yeah. Cleff is such a good brother! He deserves to be able to lighten up some and be happy. I just want to find someone who makes him feel that way."

"Okay. Well, good luck." He made to walk past her.

"Wait, Link!" She called out.

He turned around.

"What about you? Would you be interested in Cleff?"

He just stared at her for a minute before answering. "He's handsome, but I don't really know enough about him to say anything definite."

"Then I'll tell you about him!" Tona exclaimed. She started rambling before link had a chance to say anything in return. "He's a serious person. He always has been. He loves running his shop and me. He's a great swimmer, almost as good as Prince Sidon! He catches most of the chillfin trout he sells, but he has to import the rest of the stuff in his shop. He is really nice and understanding, even if it doesn't always seem like it. I remember when we were younger, I accidentally broke his favorite bracelet. I was so worried all day how he'd react, but when he got home and I explained what happened, he just hugged me and told me it was okay and that he forgives me! He is a great guy! I'd be really happy if you tried to get to know him better!"

Link sighed. "Fine. I'll try, but do you even know for sure if he likes Hylians?"

She frowned. "I'll just have to ask him." She jumped into the river and swam towards the domain.

Link sighed, but jumped in after her. He used the Zora armor to go up waterfalls instead of walking all the way around.

It took Link a lot longer than Tona to reach the Zora Domain. He couldn't swim as fast and had to take breaks in between, but he still reached it quicker than most Hylians could. He could have just teleported, but walking around is more fun, especially because when can catch or find more ingredients and objects.

"Link!" Tona called out when she saw him in front of Mipha's statue. He had just mad with to the domain. "I asked him. He said he doesn't care about stuff like that. To him, it's about who the person is. Isn't this great news?"

Link nodded. "Okay, so I'll try courting him, then. We can see if we're compatible as we get to know each other more. Care to explain Zora courting to me?"

Tona smiled brightly. "This is so great! Cleff can finally be happy! Let's go somewhere more private to discuss this, okay?" She started walking down the winding paths of the Domain until they were in a semi secluded area on one of the paths. "So, Zora courting is pretty simple, I guess, but it may seem weird to a Hylian. First, we wear a lot of yellow. It makes us stand out more in the water and it also draws attention. We use it to say that we are open to courting. "

Link nodded. He would stop by Hateno and get his Zora armor dyed yellow.

"Next is my favorite part! Food! We catch a fish and present it to the person we are trying to court! The more rare the fish, the better."

Link tapped on his Sheikah slate. "Is this acceptable? I caught it when I was near the Karok Forest."

She eyed the fish. "I've never seen one like that. What is it?"

"A stealthfin trout. I think they only live around the Karok Forest in this small river."

"That's perfect! It's even more rare than a Hearty bass or Voltfin Trout!"  
Tona seemed excited.

Link put the fish back in the slate.

"After the fish, we give jewelry. Bracelets, head pieces, rings, necklaces, things like that. Zora don't really wear earrings like Hylians, though."

Link nodded again, following along. He could go to gerudo town to get some stuff made.

"By this point, he should realize your courting him and give you an answer. If he says yes, we go to the next step. Gifts that he can use for his trade. So, something he can sell in his store, or helping him out would be a good gift for this step. If he accepts this step, then your officially courting. You can move onto dates and spending time together. Of course, after dating for a while, say six or more months, people will start to wonder when you're going to propose, which is traditionally done with a sapphire ring. It's a big no to give a sapphire ring in the jewelry stage, but it's okay if sapphires are included as long as it isn't a ring." She finished her explanation.

"I'll be back tomorrow. I need to dye my clothes." He told her before teleporting to Hateno.

The trip to the dye shop was quick. He dyed most of his clothes yellow with an extraordinary amount of zapshrooms and electric keese wings. Afterwards, he decided to head up to his house and stay there the night.

-

"Link, it's good to see you again." Cleff said when the Hylian came into his store. He took note of the yellow, but he didn't say anything.

Link bought out Cleff's stock of arrows and ice arrows. As he was messing with the Sheikah slate to put the arrows away, he pulled four the Stealthfin trout. "Would you like this? I've only fount them in the region north of Hyrule Castle? They taste pretty good cooked with butter and salt."

"Can I ask why you're giving it to me if it's so good and rare?" Cleff said, suspicious.

Not one to beat around the bush, Link told the truth. "Because I'd like to court you."

Cleff frowned. "is this another one of Tina's schemes? She's always trying to do stuff like this."

Link shook his head no. "She is the one who put the idea in my head, but I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to. So," he held out the fish. "Do you accept my offer?"

Cleff slowly took the fish. "I guess it can't hurt to see where this goes."

Link smiled softly. "Good. If I do anything wrong during the courting, feel free to tell me, okay? Now, I'll be back in a week or two with your next gift!" He teleported out.

-

Link reappeared in front of Gerudo Town. He quickly changed into his Vai outfit and Sand boots and slipped inside before going to the jewelry shop.

"Vasaaq." The Vai said.

"I'd like to get a topaz circlet, ruby bracelet, and sapphire bracelet made. They're all for a male Zora." He added so she could have a better guess at the sizes.

She had him pay and give her the materials. "Sarqso. I'll have them done a week from now."

So, for a week, link stayed at the inn, took cooking classes, rode sand seals, and caught up with Riju and the other Gerudo he knew.

"Here is your purchase, little Hylian." The woman handed him the three items all carefully wrapped in soft material. He put them in the slate and teleported back to the Zora Domain. He glanced at his clothes. He still had on the Vai outfit, but it was dyed yellow, so he didn't bother changing.

"That's quite the fetching outfit, Link. Cleff said when he entered the store. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear it before."

Link nodded. "It's usually too cold here, but I just came from the desert, so the cold is welcome. I have your gift. Well, gifts. I couldn't decide, so I got all three." He pulled out the jewelry and handed it to Cleff still wrapped in the fabric from before.

"Oh." Cleff said in surprise. "This is all white beautiful, but it's really too much. I can't accept all of this. Please, take two of them back. I can't even imagine how much this must have costed you."

Link sighed. "I already paid for it, and it's all too big for me to wear, so it's useless to me unless you keep it. Besides, I'd love to see it all on you."

As soon as those words were uttered, Cleff couldn't help but hurry to slide all of the jewelry on. "What do you think?" He came out from behind his podium to model for Link.

"Beautiful." Link said, almost in a daze. Cleff certainly more than met the expectations link had when he bought the jewelry. He shook his head slightly to clear it. "Right. So next is helping with your trade, right?"

"Yes." Cleff said. "You can just help me by cleaning the stock room or something. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture. This step is just to show that you are willing to help the other out."

Link shook his head. "The more I think about this, and the farther into this courtship I go, the more so like the idea of being with you. I want to do more than cleaning. I'll do that, too, but I had something else in mind."

"What is it?" Cleff looked confused.

"I'm not sure what I'd have to do to go about it, but I'd like to comission Ledo to expand your shop out some so we can add more shelves. Then, I can help you expand what you sell by supplying stuff."

"Link. . ." Cleff said slowly. "You really don't know the meaning of too much, do you?" He could already see what he was getting himself into.

Link grinned. "Nope! Now, do I need to get permission from someone, or can I just go find Ledo?"

"Laflet. She needs to authorize any structural changes to the Domain."

Link ran off.

By the end of the day, link had an authorized permit and a time table from Ledo. Ledo had even agreed to work at night so Cleff could keep the store open in the day.

-

"Link!" Tona found Link two days after construction had started on Cleff's shop. "I heard about your Trade Gift for Cleff! Thanks for doing all that. He's been wanting to do something like that for years, but he hasn't had the money too."

Link nodded. "I didn't know that, but I'm happy to help him out like this. I wanted to thank you when I saw you again, Tona. I think Cleff and I are a good match. I hope he thinks the same."

Tona turned serious for once. "Trust me, Link. If he didn't like you in return, there's no way he's let you keep doing all this for him."

-

Three weeks later, The Coral Reef had an expanded wall and shelf that could now hold ten items instead of four. There was also a second shelf above the one on the side that could only hold four items, so now that side can hold eight items.

"Oh, my." Cleff said when he saw it all finished. "It's beautiful. Thank you for this, Link. I truly appreciate it."

"I'm happy to help you. Now, how about you look through this and decide what else you want to sell." He handed the Sheikah slate to Cleff. It was on the items page.   
"I figured we could put Bomb, fire, and shock arrows on the shelf above the ice and regular arrows, but I'll leave all final decisions to you."

"That sounds fine, but what about the last space on that shelf?" He asked in a distracted voice as he searched through the slate.

"Singular fire arrows, then bundles of bomb, shock, and fire arrows."

Cleff nodded. "That sounds great. What about topaz, gourmet meat, hearty blue snail, mighty porgy, armored porgy, and honey for the last six spots?" He said after another minute if looking through Link's stuff.

Link smiled. "That sounds good to me. We can try those and see if they sell. If they don't, feel free to ask me to give you something different. I'll be happy to do it." He pulled four the requested items and left them to Cleff to organize. Then, he started putting out the arrows, carefully pushing the shock arrows back and further from the other arrows so no Zora would accidentally touch them.

"This is really all so perfect, Link." Cleff looked absolutely overjoyed.

"This gift makes it all official then? We can go on dates and stuff now, right?" Link asked.

Cleff nodded. "We could have before, but its not exactly proper to do that before this stage. Why? Have something in mind?"

Link nodded. "I'd like to make you dinner tonight."

"That sounds enjoyable. If be happy to join you."

"Maybe tomorrow night, too? And the night after that?" Link added.

Cleff nodded. "I'll be happy to join you every night I can."

-

Five months later, Link and Cleff's relationship was common knowledge. The Zora were getting antsy waiting on a proposal, especially two certain Zora.

"Link, my greatest friend! It's so good to see you again! Are you stopping in to see Cleff? You two have been together for quite some time now. Have you had any thoughts on sapphires, yet?" Sidon asked, anxious.

Link nodded. "I had to find all the sapphires before the Gerudo jeweler could make it for me. I just picked it up today." He held up the ring so Sidon could see it.

It was a simple band. It was a black metal with a line of small sapphires running in a line throughout the middle of the band. One larger sapphire sat among them.

"My friend! It's beautiful! I'm sure he'll love it."

"What's all this?" Tona asked. "I heard the excitement and came to check it out. Is that what I think it is?" She pointed at the ring. At Link's nod, she continued. "Then what are you still doing here? Go see my brother!"

Link walked off in the direction of the store.

"Link!" Cleff said in an excited voice. It had taken Link a while to work that much emotion out of the eve serious Cleff, but he had done it and he was happy he had.

"Dinner tonight? I'll make Stealthfin trout with butter and salt."

"I suppose it can't hurt to close a little early today, if you want to go get started on dinner." Cleff said.

Link nodded. "Meet me by the west bridge in thirty minutes?"

"I'll be there."

Link ran to get started on his cooking.

-

"Come with me." Link started walking off as soon as Cleff showed up.   
He walked all the way to a small pond, under a small water fall. It was a beautiful area and close enough to the light of the domain to not worry about any monsters.

Link set out a blanket for them to sit on then pulled the cooked dinner out of the Sheikah slate. "Here." He handed one plate to Cleff.

They ate while making small talk, asking about how the other had been since they last saw each other and all that.

"So, what's all this for, Link? Not to say that you aren't usually romantic, but you've never done anything like this before."

"Ah, well. I was hoping you'd accept this." He pulled the ring from a pocket and held it out for Cleff to see.

"I wasn't expecting this yet. From what I understand, Hylians usually have longer courtships before exchanging a ring." Cleff said in lieu of an answer.

"We can wait if you're prefer." Link made to take the ring back, but Cleff interrupted him.

"I said _Hylians_ usually have a longer courtship. As a Zora, I am happy to accept this ring."

Link and Cleff had matching smiles as Link slid the ring onto Cleff's finger.


End file.
